Help.. hand woven basket locking lid unknown wood insert?

hello everyone,

I'm having difficulty identifying the use and provenance of this extremely interesting find; old unique woven basket with interested round wood insert with beveled edge. Dimensions are; 10" width x 10" deep with a height of 8" excluding handle. My searches have been fruitless. Cannot find anything similar. Please excuse my posting etiquette, but I'm new to this forum and just learning the ropes

https://www.antiquers.com/media/hand-wove-lid-basket.2818/download

https://www.antiquers.com/media/swing-handle-latch-basket.2819/

 

Welcome, AntiqueFinds!

The way to properly link your Gallery pictures to your thread is to use the "camera" icon in the tool bar - Media Gallery Embed - rather than using the method you chose.

Give it a try!

 

Thanks very much!

Swing handle Latch Basket by AntiqueFinds posted Feb 16, 2018 at 7:51 PM

Hand wove lid basket by AntiqueFinds posted Feb 16, 2018 at 7:39 PM

 

Good job.

There must be another explanation, but that wooden thing reminds me of outhouses at summer camp.

So, having gotten that out of the way , what does the wooden thing look like out of the basket?

 

And Congratulations! You're member #6,000!!

 

Good question. I will upload images tomorrow am EST. I'm actually out for dinner with a friend right now. I had similar thoughts But doesn't make sense to me with it being so small and set in a porous container.

 

Seriously? Thank you!

 

It's like a picnic basket, except one designed to hold a specific container upright when containers didn't have snap on lids. Just speculating. Looked like a latrine to me to, on first glance.

 

Port-a-Potty?

 

Like Bronwen said: "It's like a picnic basket, except one designed to hold a specific container upright when containers didn't have snap on lids."

Does that wooden piece come out of the basket fairly easily but stay in place if the basket is being carried?

I think that wooden "ring" in the center is to stabilize "something" (maybe a round casserole dish with side handles) . . . . or some such.

 

I wonder if it was to hold a bowl or something steady,like for shipping?

 

How about a pie carrier?

 

Bronwen, great idea about a pie carrier and the link confirms your thinking.

 

These days my brain has a mind of its own & will suddenly retrieve a name, a memory, a bit of info, if left alone. Think an old maid librarian lives in the right hemisphere & just quietly goes into the stacks while the left side is chattering about it.

 

Here is an additional image of the wooden piece, and yes, it does come out easily. It's seated on two wicker? corner supports, of which one of them has some loss. The lid has steel wire hinges. Thanks to everyone for your help.

 

Welcome to Antiquers, @AntiqueFinds ! Just curious, is that a Great Pyrenees dog in your avatar? Or some other?